The College Democrats’ Homecoming float was set on fire Saturday night, police said.
The float was parked in a member’s driveway on Guest Drive near Stark Road.
The Starkville Police Department is investigating the incident as third degree arson, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of one year in prison.
About 2:30 a.m., neighbors knocked on senior Matthew Holmes’ door to tell him there was a fire in his driveway, said Daniel Melder, former president of the College Democrats.
Some other members of the organization were still there after a debate watch party the night before.
“When we ran outside the float was completely engulfed in flames,” Melder said. “We used buckets, large cups and whatever else we could find to put the fire out.”
Melder said that after he and his friends put the fire out, they called the police.
According to the Mississippi Annotated Code, third degree arson is committed by “any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to … any personal property of whatsoever class or character.” For the crime to be considered 3rd degree arson, 25 dollars in damages must have been incurred.
“We’ve already been to the scene and questioned neighbors and other people in the area,” said detective William Durr.
Durr said that the float was destroyed by the fire.
The College Democrats suspect that someone who disagreed with their political ideologies committed the crime.
“It is appalling that a few closed-minded extremists would even consider committing arson in the name of an ideology,” said Laura Rayburn, vice president of the group.”Let it be known, however, that this crime will not deter us from promoting our cause.”
The incident could have been much worse because of the location of the float, Melder said.
“We really dodged a bullet that night,” he said. “The fire could have caused thousands of dollars worth of damage if a car or Matt’s house had caught fire. Personal injury could have resulted.”
This year was the first for the College Democrats to build a float for the Homecoming parade. Bogard said that during the parade the College Democrats were pelted by ice and tin foil from another float.
“We are not going to be intimidated by these events,” Bogard said, “Something like this isn’t going to stop us from working for our cause.”